"Despite
the Asian setting, it has a sort of strong sense of the gothic that brings
to mind the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, with nary
a pierced tongue or black fingernail in sight."

- Numskull

Village
of Eight Gravestones (1977)

AKA: Village
Of 8 Gravestones; Village Of The Eight Tombs; Village Of The 8 Tombs

Director:
Nomura Yoshitaro

Producer:
Nomura Yoshitaro, Sugisaki Shigemi, Oda Akira

Writer:
Hashimoto Shinobu (based on the novel of the same name by Yokomizo
Seishi)

Plot:
A labyrinthine tale of treachery, deceit, and revenge from beyond the grave.
A man who unexpectedly discovers that he is the heir to a family fortune
travels to the small village where the family he never knew he had...and
a 400-year old curse...await.

NUMSKULL'S
REVIEW: A captivating mystery with a liberal dose of the supernatural,
Village of Eight Gravestones is a film that can and will appeal to a wide
variety of viewers. Despite the Asian setting, it has a sort of strong
sense of the gothic that brings to mind the works of Edgar Allan Poe and
Nathaniel Hawthorne, with nary a pierced tongue or black fingernail in
sight. ("Gothic"...another perfectly legitimate word the meaning
of which has been mauled and mutated by the unenlightened era in which
we live. It's so depressing, I think I'll listen to Switchblade Symphony
and write a poem about killing myself.)

The main character
is 30-year old Tatsuya, who gets yanked out of his stable life of directing
air traffic in Osaka and thrust into a convoluted drama involving a wealthy
clan of long-lost relatives and grisly secrets. It begins with a surprise
visit from his ancient grandfather, who suffers a mysterious attack of
some kind and drops dead mere moments after meeting his grandson after
three long decades.

Tatsuya's grandfather
came from a small mountain village, and he travels there with a wealthy
and influential native woman named Miyako for the funeral. Many awkward
moments follow as Tatsuya is introduced to the Tajimi family, rich land
owners from whom he will someday inherit a fortune, such as his bedridden
half-brother Hisaya, and a freaky pair of elderly aunts who seem to share
a single mind. More troublesome yet is the one-eyed old woman who screams
about Tatsuya bringing death and misfortune to the village with him. She
is, of course, dismissed as a raving old loony, but her predictions prove
eerily accurate as dead villagers pile up and Tatsuya is told the chilling
legend of eight samurai warriors who were betrayed and murdered by the
cowardly peasants who inhabited the region four centuries ago. These people
were led by a man named Shozaemon. His family name was Tajimi.

Is someone
pulling strings and getting away with murder to snag the family's wealth,
or is Tatsuya truly cursed? There are certainly plenty of other suspects
in this backwards little town, but Tatsuya, the outsider, bears the lion's
share of the suspicion. His primary allies are his half-sister Haruyo,
and Kindaichi, a curious man in an ugly hat. Twist follows turn as the
plot unfolds in a tapestry of deft cinematic storytelling...which, of course,
is a prettier way of saying "no more plot summary."

Obviously,
I liked this movie quite a bit, although keeping track of the large cast
of characters did get a bit tiresome. Some of the music is jarring and
out of place, and there are some bits of dialogue where the English subtitles
inexplicably take a coffee break, but the overall presentation is excellent.
The 2-DVD set from Shochiku/Platinum Classics has a high quality English
translation and some bilingual liner notes (which should NOT be read by
anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet; the "synopsis" briefly
outlines the entire film from beginning to end). Despite an absurdly abrupt
love scene, the story (written for the screen by the man who wrote Rashomon
and Seven Samurai) maintains a strong grip on your attention, and while
it may not REQUIRE a two and a half hour running time, it certainly DESERVES
it. The climax contains some striking imagery that brings everything to
a very satisfying close.

Village of
Eight Gravestones has aged remarkably well, and still deserves a big audience.
Highly recommended.